SPOKANE, Wash. — Walk into Gander and Ryegrass on Main and you might hear owner Peter Froese getting his restaurant ready for his lunch or dinner rush.
“We opened November 2019, four months before the shutdown," said Froese.
When Froese first opened he was excited to see his restaurant’s potential. He said, “The pandemic changed everything. Put a lot of people on their heels, and we'll take whatever help we can get.”
But luckily for him, his restaurant is one of 73 Spokane businesses to receive the Washington State Department of Commerce’s COVID relief grant. "The grants that we've received over the years and especially this one, really create some room to function as we should," said Froese.
On Monday, the Department of Commerce announced it is sending $79 million to nearly 1500 businesses across the state. 73 businesses in Spokane received around $3 million of the total amount. Nine businesses in Spokane received grants more than $100,000 dollars.
“The post pandemic era is different. Everything's just a little bit different," said Froese.
Gander and Ryegrass received $5,000 but they’re now able to begin projects he wanted to start since the pandemic. Froese said, “We've been working on building out our catering program a bit so we actually had some plate wear and some equipment that we needed for that.”
The only businesses that qualified for this grant were those in the hospitality sector. But it wasn’t only limited to restaurants, spas and hotels were also allowed to apply.
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